Chapter 326: Challenging the Limits

“Are we really leaving tomorrow? Big brother is worried about Lucy, right? It’s okay—Lucy can hold on. Big brother can stay a few more days!” Hearing Rod’s words, a sense of warmth spread through Lucy’s heart as she spoke softly. Though she didn’t know what Rod needed those things for, since big brother insisted on them, there must be a reason. She had to help him find them—that was the only thought in her mind at that moment.
“No need. If we can’t find them, we’ll just leave. If we still can’t find them by tomorrow, staying a few more days won’t help at all! Staying here is just a waste of time!” With a slight smile, touched by Lucy’s consideration, Rod said firmly.
Over the past few days, they had searched almost the entire core area but found nothing. Continuing would only be a waste of time.
The two fell silent again, each lost in their own thoughts.
After a long while, Lucy looked up at Rod. “Let’s search again. We still have one day. Maybe we’ll find them!” At that moment, Lucy regained her innocent smile and pulled Rod forward.
Walking side by side, Rod decided to give up on the help of the Netherhell Fire to save Lucy’s energy. She only needed to use it to protect herself, which would save her a lot of strength.
The endless glaciers made it impossible to tell east from west. The howling wind and heavy snowflakes made it hard to keep one’s eyes open. Every step in such cold weather was extremely difficult. Without the power of combat energy, the wind alone might have blown them away to some unknown place.
Rod and Lucy seemed tiny and insignificant in this vast snowy expanse.
The last place, the last hope—the very core in the west—was a small area they hadn’t explored yet. Rod had even given up on finding anything there. If they couldn’t find anything here, it might be impossible to locate the Rainbow Ice Spirit anywhere in the Divine Sorrow Forbidden Land. If it existed, this place held the greatest hope.
This westernmost area was the very core of the Divine Sorrow Forbidden Land. From his observations, Rod knew that the place they were about to go to was undoubtedly the heart of the forbidden land!

With each step taken, it seemed they were entering another world, the temperature dropping steadily. By the time they had walked a hundred steps, the surrounding temperature had dropped to well below eighty degrees! Even by channeling all their combat energy, it seemed difficult to withstand such cold! After all, Rod was a top warrior at the Yin Huang realm, and Lucy had reached the middle stage of the same realm. Coupled with the protection of the Netherhell Fire, their defense was no less than Rod’s. Their defenses were even stronger than those of some warriors at the early stage of the Yang Xuan realm.

Yet even so, they felt unable to take another step! It seemed that taking one more step would drive them to collapse. Truly, this was the core of the God’s Lament Forbidden Land—no one could enter it!

With heavy hearts, they continued forward when suddenly a harsh sound came from ahead, causing both of them to frown. Was it a magical beast, or something else?

How could such a crisp sound exist in such deep ice and snow? It sounded a bit like flowing water.

Could there be some kind of danger hidden at the very heart of the God’s Lament Forbidden Land? A deadly danger? Should they continue forward?

“Be careful!” Rod turned to Lucy and whispered those words. For the sake of a sliver of hope, he decided to take a risk.

At the same time, Xuan Yuan was drawn from its sheath. Its simple green blade appeared even duller in this icy environment. The extreme cold made Xuan Yuan somewhat stiff, as if it might shatter at any moment! These past few days, Rod hadn’t heard the voice of Xuan Yuan’s sword spirit either—perhaps it had hidden itself due to the unbearable cold.

When Rod channeled his combat energy into Xuan Yuan, a bright green light radiated from it, extremely dazzling. Taking a deep breath, a wave of cold instantly invaded his body, spreading throughout his organs, as if trying to freeze him from within.

Fortunately, Rod’s combat energy was fierce enough to prevent the cold from penetrating. If it were any other warrior, even one at the later stage of the Yin Huang realm, they would likely be unable to withstand such cold—no wonder no one had ever been able to reach the core area.

Although the Seven-Colored Ice Spirit was precious, for warriors at the Yang Xuan realm, it was somewhat dispensable. It only had a special effect on warriors below the Yin Huang realm.

However, unless one was a strong warrior at the middle stage or above of the Yang Xuan realm, it was difficult to enter. Of course, except for outliers like Rod and Lucy, who also had precious treasures for protection! The Netherhell Fire could perhaps be considered the best cold-resistant treasure.

“Brother, look ahead…” Lucy’s surprised voice made Rod turn his head quickly.
The scene before him froze the entire world. At that moment, it seemed as though the whole world had stopped moving, as if everything had fallen silent.
It was a river—a tiny river that was hard to believe could exist in such a frigid place. No one could imagine how such a small river hadn’t frozen in the midst of heavy snowfall.
“Let’s go and take a look!” Seeing this, Rod’s heartbeat accelerated. Undoubtedly, this river hid many secrets and mysteries. The fact that it could flow freely under such conditions meant it was nothing ordinary. Perhaps the Rainbow Ice Spirit could be found there!
“I… Brother, I can’t go any further. I’ve reached my limit!” Lucy said with a pained expression and a cry in her voice. By now, she had realized that even with the protection of the Nether Hellfire, it was still difficult to move forward. She could clearly sense the threat—taking one more step might cause her Nether Hellfire to collapse completely in such an environment, leading to certain death!
Hearing Lucy’s words, Rod frowned in concern. If that was indeed the case, it would be troublesome. Since Lucy couldn’t move forward, what did that mean? It meant that even those at the Yangxuan realm couldn’t penetrate deep into this place.
“Wait here for me. I’ll go and take a look!” After some thought, Rod said to Lucy in a deep voice.
He felt he still had the possibility to move forward, so he decided to check it out. Since they were here, they couldn’t give up any hope.
His body was under extreme threat, with pain as sharp as needles everywhere. With each step he took, it felt like every cell in his body was undergoing a life-and-death test, being tempered over and over again—from life to death, and then from death to life, in a strange cycle.
In the cold weather, Rod was sweating profusely, his face red, breathing heavily. When something reaches its extreme, the effects can be opposite—for example, extreme cold can make one feel as if they’re in scorching heat.
“Brother, be careful!” Lucy called out from behind, noticing Rod’s unusual behavior.
Without the protection of the Nether Hellfire, Rod suffered from far greater cold than Lucy. Naturally, Lucy understood the danger involved.

“Don’t worry… I’m fine!” Taking a deep breath, Rod hurriedly used his fighting spirit to ward off the invading cold, trying to comfort himself.
Every cell and nerve was under extreme strain, causing intense pain throughout his body. His eyes turned red, and the blue blood of his troll lineage began to boil under the cold, surging wildly as if rivers and rivers of blood were flowing endlessly through his veins.
Boom… One could even faintly hear the sound of the blood rushing.
His skin seemed on the verge of tearing. By the time Rod took his tenth step, he reached his limit. Even at the advanced stage of the Yin Yellow realm and at the peak of the seventh layer of physical cultivation, he could no longer move forward. Rod knew that taking one more step might cause his entire body to explode and kill him.
No wonder no magical beasts were seen here—even the ice bears and ice birds that lived here year-round couldn’t withstand such extreme cold. The current temperature was at least 120 degrees below zero.
There were still about two to three hundred meters left to the river ahead! The cold air ahead was thick, like a fairyland. Rod knew this was all due to the extremely low temperatures. The temperature there was likely even lower than here, reaching a critical point where every living thing would perish and collapse under such conditions—no matter what!
The thoughts of moving forward or staying put clashed in Rod’s mind, fighting against each other as he struggled fiercely.
He quickly sat in a cross-legged position. His current state clearly didn’t allow him to move forward; otherwise, death was inevitable. He silently recited the “Meditation on the Mind” to calm himself down, then began to struggle to absorb the meager amounts of fire elements in this frigid environment. A little by little, they flowed into his body, carrying with them the cold. His fighting spirit merged with these elements while also replenishing the lost energy.
His blood surged violently, his skin began to crack, and his seventh layer of physical cultivation was on the verge of collapse!
To move forward, his physical cultivation had to reach the eighth layer—or even the top-tier ninth layer—to possibly enter the core area. Clearly, he wasn’t ready yet!
His body finally started to collapse, even his fighting spirit unable to hold back the onslaught. Rod was enduring excruciating pain. At this moment, he was testing his limits, pushing his physical boundaries to the extreme. A small crack appeared on his skin, gradually spreading like a spiderweb across his entire body—like glass that shattered at the slightest touch!

“Damn it!” he cursed inwardly. Rod felt like crying—his body was about to collapse? Collapsing at this moment would only lead to death! He couldn’t bear such an outcome; he must hold on to his body! With that thought, his combat energy surged violently as he began to pray for Xuanyuan’s help.